In Hollywood, exclusivity agreements between the main scriptwriters and studios are common, with the creatives developing projects for the services. And, in the middle of the strike initiated by the Writers Guild of America, the union of screenwriters in the United States, the media wondered what would happen to these agreements. Would the most respected and/or most commercial television authors be penalized for stopping typing and joining the protests? David Simon, creator of series like The wire or The conspiracy against America for HBO, proves that it is.
“On the day HBO called to suspend my agreement after spending 25 years writing television for them, I was doing the right thing,” Simon wrote, uploading images of the protests and pickets organized by the writers with the aim of putting pressure on the executives and paralyze the filming of the main productions. He exposed a reality: that some of the most visible faces in the profession are also suffering the consequences of this strike, which he fully supports.
The strike called by the WGA after receiving the support of the scriptwriters aims to redefine the working conditions of these creatives in an industry in full metamorphosis: television in 2012 was not the same as television in 2023, in which streaming platforms produce most of the series and in which the residual profits are not the same.
Among its clearest points? Making sure that artificial intelligence does not worsen their working conditions, that writers' rooms that allowed professionals to make their way in the industry and employ more screenwriters not disappear, that writers stop working for minimum wage and that success of their works affects their profits.
Before, when a writer worked on a successful series, a quiet time was assured. The creators could directly retire. Now, instead, Alfred Gough and Miles Millar may have written a mammoth hit like Wednesday for Netflix, and instead their income was the same as if no one had seen it.
With respect to David Simon, one of the most openly progressive screenwriters in the country, it remains to be seen if this suspension translates into a permanent dismissal or if he remains on temporary suspension. What is clear is that it is a stain on the prolific relationship between the Baltimore screenwriter and the HBO channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery: within the brand it has produced series admired by critics such as The Corner, The wire, Generation Kill, Show me a hero, The conspiracy against America, Treme, The deuce or the recent The city is ours.
